Contents

Description

GTA III — GTA Vice City Stories

Design

The GTA III and GTA Liberty City Stories renditions resemble a second generation Chevrolet S-10, while the GTA Vice City, GTA San Andreas and GTA Vice City Stories renditions are based on the first generation Ford Ranger (American version). Pre-GTA IV Bobcats have a V6 engine, with the only exception being the 4-cylinder in San Andreas and Vice City Stories, and are available in a one tone body color, or two for the GTA Vice City, GTA San Andreas and GTA Vice City Stories renditions. While similar to earlier renditions, the GTA San Andreas, GTA Liberty City Stories and GTA Vice City Stories renditions also sport lower ground clearance. The GTA III rendition has a 3D modeling glitch where one headlight is rounded but the other is longer and rectangular.

Certain Bobcats in GTA San Andreas may feature Sprunk cans or a spare wheel in the back, and the Bobcat can be also upgraded at TransFender in GTA San Andreas with changeable wheels, exhausts, etc. Along with the GTA Vice City rendition of the Moonbeam, the game's Bobcat is one of the earliest vehicles in the series to features its name printed on its body (on the tailgate).
The Bobcat is used as a gang car by the Trailer Park Mafia in GTA Vice City Stories.

Performance

The Bobcat is fairly slow at 135 mph, but has high torque and strong, stiff suspension. However, the low power and heavy weight means it takes a long time and a straight and clear road for the Bobcat to achieve maximum speed. It is rear-wheel drive and handles well on rough terrain, so it can be used for mild off-roading, but is inferior to the Patriot in this respect. Some versions are four wheel drive. In GTA San Andreas, like the Sadler, the four cylinder engine is mounted transversely, which is impossible to drive the rear wheels without driving the front as well.

GTA IV — GTA Chinatown Wars

Design

In Grand Theft Auto IV, the Bobcat is now a full-size step side pickup truck, rather than a compact. As it bears a Vapid badge, which is a parody of Ford, it loosely resembles a 2005 Ford Ranger, but it appears more bulkier in appearance, thus retaining some cues the 1981 Chevrolet C. The truck has a very powerful 550 Cubic Inch (9.0L) V10 engine. Despite having "SUPER 4X4" written on the side, the Bobcat is purely rear wheel drive, or they may have the 4WD disabled. Bobcats can be seen with optional grille guards, or a roll bar with or without four lights on top, and on rare occurrences, with both. Bobcats may also, very rarely, come with an additional bed cover.

The GTA Chinatown Wars Bobcat is not unlike the GTA IV in terms of appearance and performance, with several minor tweaks and a permanent roll bar.

Performance

In terms of performance, the Bobcat is capable of rapid acceleration and a slow top speed of 136 mph. The vehicle does not turn sharply, but can powerslide around corners with enough use of the emergency brake. Off road, the Bobcat suffers from lack of 4WD, low ground clearance, and extremely poor wheel articulation. Also, the engine is somewhat overpowering, resulting in undesired wheel-spin in soft sand. The truck should not be considered a heavy duty vehicle for off road use. The Bobcat also has a 5-speed manual transmission, as indicated by a third pedal to the left, if looked at closely enough. Damage is average, and because of the roll bar, it won't have much roof damage in rollovers.

GTA V

A Bobcat XL in GTA IV.

The Bobcat makes a return in GTA V, looking similar to the GTA IV rendition, but with some changes. It now comes in a long-wheelbase XL version, and is no longer available as a stepside. The bed is longer than the GTA IV version, but it retains the front end of the GTA IV Bobcat. All Bobcats now come equipped with bullbars, and some have camper shells over the bed. As with the Bison, the Bobcat XL is classified as a van, despite being a pick-up truck, so passengers can ride in the load bed.

Variants

The regular Bobcat is available with various unique qualities in some of the games it appears in:

In GTA III, the player can acquire a bulletproof, fireproof and explosion-proof Bobcat from "Evidence Dash". This can be achieved by pinning the truck at an obstacle and carjacking it while it remains stationary or slow-moving. (Note: The doors of the Bobcat are locked, even after all six packages are dropped, making carjacking the vehicle impossible) If the player is required to destroy the evidence by destroying the truck, the player can do so by going to a safehouse garage, ramming the truck until it catches fire, park and leave the truck in the garage and wait for it to explode (thereby completing the mission). Once the player reopens the garage door, the truck is fully repaired.

In GTA Vice City, the player can acquire a black-and-red Bobcat during "Autocide", when the player is required to kill two targets (Marcus Hammond and Franco Carter) in the parked Bobcat. The easiest way to obtain the truck is by killing the driver using a sniper rifle from afar (which forces the passenger to exit the truck instead of gaining control of the truck himself), gaining access to the truck.

In GTA San Andreas, two all-black Bobcats (suspected to be used by the CIA) are featured during "Stowaway". The player can reach the Bobcats, at the cost of missing the departing Andromada and failing the mission.

In GTA IV, a Bobcat is requested as part of Stevie's Car Thefts, appearing with a pale brown body. As a new Bobcat will respawn at the same spot until the player delivers one to S&M Auto Sales, the player can save one at their safehouse before delivering another. Just like the Rancher, the Bobcat may spawn with a few accessories.

In addition, there exists a gang variant of the Bobcat in GTA Chinatown Wars driven by the Irish Killers gang. The "gang" Bobcat is distinguished by its green body and red roof.

Under the "Chinatown Wars" section of the Rockstar Games Social Club website, members may download a printable papercraft model of the game's Bobcat. The vehicle's design is more alike that of GTA IV than GTA Chinatown Wars.

In GTA San Andreas, a visual glitch is present in the Bobcat. If you go to any Transfenders mod shop and choose any exhaust pipe mod option, the custom exhaust pipes will be incorrectly placed inside the rear bumper.

All Bobcats while spawning in GTA San Andreas were driven by a poor man wearing a blue sweater and ivory pants. With exception in the airports (occasionally) driven by airport controller man.

In GTA San Andreas the Bobcat together with the Sadler is the third most durable vehicle in the game, as seen in the stats.

In GTA IV, if the player attempts to hop on to the rear cargo/freight compartment while the vehicle is still in motion, the player would most likely lose his/her balance and result in a bad fall on to the ground. However if the player happens to be stuck in the cargo/freight compartment, his/her health will get gradually reduced and eventually become wasted.

In GTA IV, the Bobcat seems to have three pedals, which could indicate it having a 5-Speed manual transmission.

The Bobcat is the only vehicle to not take the qualities of the animal named after it, (probably it is only named "Bobcat" because of the word present on its tailgate).